PRIVATIZING SCHOOLS: Two Lakeland-area public schools — Kathleen Middle and Griffin Elementary — are among six “persistently low-performing” schools in Polk that will be privatized under a law passed by the Florida Legislature last year. Three so-far anonymous companies have placed bids to run the schools.
NOT SO YUM: A former cook for a Lakeland restaurant was sentenced to seven years in prison for lacing the Yum Yum sauce with poison, reportedly to protest working conditions.
SLEUTH: After a Lakeland homeowner was victimized by a pool contractor, she contacted others who had work done by his company. Her work led to the arrest of John Lee Johnson, 58, the owner of Tropic Pools of Central Florida Inc., on theft and fraud charges.
Source: The Ledger